special.” She stared at Chloe intently, and when her daughter didn’t answer, she pressed, “Well, is there?”
Chloe shrugged, leaned against the table, and said hesitantly, “Not sure, Mom.” She pursed her lips. “Maybe. He’s been seeing a lot of Allison Grainger, but he’s been really closemouthed about it.”
“Who’s Allison Grainger?” Stevie asked, a dark brow lifting quizzically.
“The costume designer who’s working on the play with him. You’ve met her, Mom. She’s got red hair and lots of freckles.”
“Oh, yes, I remember her now. She’s rather pretty.” Stevie’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Is it serious, do you think?”
“I doubt it,” Chloe responded, and began to laugh. “I guess it will be for about another week or two. And then it’ll probably be over. You know Miles and Gideon, Mom, they’re very alike when it comes to women.”
“What do you mean?”
“When they fall for a woman they get very intense for a few weeks; it’s finally the great love at long last. But it quickly peters out. And they always like to surround themselves with extra girls, just in case. And anyway, Miles says there’s safety in numbers.”
Stevie smiled; how well her daughter knew her brothers. “He’s coming alone apparently, so it may well be over already.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Chloe murmured, and then looked from her mother to Cappi. “Did I interrupt anything? You were very deeply engrossed.”
“No, we were just planning the menus, going over a few things for the weekend. And actually we were just about finished when you came into the kitchen.”
Cappi said, “I’d better set the table for—”
“Oh, don’t bother,” Stevie cut in. “Let’s eat in the little sitting room tonight. It’s much cozier. Two trays in front of the fire will do us fine, thanks, Cappi.”
Later that evening they were halfway through dessert when Chloe put down her fork, looked at her mother, and said, “There’s something I want to talk to you about, Mom.”
“Yes, darling,” Stevie said, swiftly glancing at her daughter, noting the sudden tenseness of her voice. “Tell me.”
“It’s about next year, Mom. I mean about going to college after I graduate from Brearley. And, you see…” Chloe’s voice trailed off, and she gazed at her mother, biting her lip.
“What is it, Chloe?”
“I really don’t want to go…I mean go to college.”
Stevie sat up a little straighter and stared at her daughter. “Do you mean you don’t want to go to college here in America? Or college anywhere?”
“Correct, Mom! I don’t want to go to college.”
“Not even to Oxford? You talked about that so much, and you always sounded very excited. Why, only a few months ago you said you couldn’t wait to go there.”
“I know. But I’ve changed my mind. I’d prefer to go into the jewelry business, Mom. I want to work at Jardine’s.”
Stevie was genuinely surprised by this announcement, even though she had always known her daughter liked the store in New York. She said cautiously, “I like the idea of you working with me at Jardine’s, but I still want you to attend university. You can come into the business with me when you’re twenty-one or twenty-two.”
Chloe shook her head vehemently. “Honestly, Mom, I really don’t want to go to college. What’s the point, when I want to go to work. Surely you of all people understand that. You work like a dog and enjoy every minute of it.”
“That’s true, I do. And I understand everything you’re saying, but nevertheless, I would like you to finish your education. It’s important, Chloe.”
“You didn’t go to college.”
“I wish I had.”
“What could you have learned at college? About the jewelry business, I mean. Nothing. And look how successful you’ve been. You’re a terrific businesswoman, you know all about diamonds and other precious stones. You’re…well…Gideon says you’re a legend in the business. Not going to college didn’t hurt you, or stop you from becoming what you are.”
“True. But then again, I learned a lot from Ralph in the early years of our marriage. And later I had Bruce to teach me. Working with him was like going to several universities. He was the greatest professor there was, and so was Uncle André. I learned a lot from him as well.”
“And I can learn a lot from Gideon in London. That’s where I want to go, Mom, I want to go to London and work with Gideon at the Bond Street store.”
Stevie was taken aback by this statement, and for a moment she made no response. Then she said slowly, a little hesitantly, “But why wouldn’t you want to work with me in New York? I don’t understand…” She did not finish her sentence, just sat staring at her daughter through baffled eyes.
Chloe said quickly, “Oh, Mom, I’d love to work with you in New York. Eventually. But I want to start out in London because Gideon is such a great lapidary and he could teach me so much. And besides, the London workshops are much bigger than the one in New York. I just think I’d get better training there, and Old Bruce is there. I mean, I know he’s semiretired and all that, but he does go to the store twice a week, and, well, I mean, he could teach me a lot, just like he taught you.”
“I see.”
“Are you angry, Mom?”
Stevie shook her head.
“Yes, you are, I can tell. Please don’t be cross with me, Mom. Please.”
“I’m not angry; really, I’m not, Chloe.”
“Then what?”
“Disappointed, I suppose.”
“Because I don’t want to go to college?”
“Yes, there’s that. But I’m also disappointed that you don’t want to work with me in New York. Of course, the workshops are much larger in London, that’s true. But ours is not so bad, you know. And we do have Marc Sylvester and several wonderful lapidaries at the Fifth Avenue store. They could teach you just as much as you’d learn in London.”
“But I want to learn from Gideon.”
“I know you’ve always been close to him.”
“I’m closer to Miles actually, Mom, but I love Gideon and he’s a good teacher. He’s taught me a few things about jewelry already when I’ve gone to see him at the workshops during vacations.”
“He’s certainly patient and painstaking, and a bit of a perfectionist, so I have to believe you when you say he’s a good teacher. Yes, I can see that aspect of him.” Stevie gave her daughter a long, speculative look, and then asked quietly, “Have you discussed this with Gideon already?”
Chloe shook her head. “Oh, no, Mommy, I haven’t! I wouldn’t do that, not before talking to you.” Chloe leaned forward, her young face expectant and eager. “Can I go, then?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about this. It’s a big step for you, going to live in London. Alone.”
“But Mother, I wouldn’t be alone. I’ve got two brothers and a sister-in-law there, plus Old Bruce. And my grandparents. Blair and Derek would keep an eye on me for you.”
“If I agreed, and it is an if, I’d want someone to do much more than keep an eye on you, Chloe. You’d have to live with a member of the family.”
Chloe was immediately